The eSafety Commissioner of Australia, Julie Inman Grant, has issued legal notices to social media and messaging providers such as Twitter, Google, TikTok, Twitch, and Discord, asking them to provide information on their methods of detecting child abuse material and preventing their algorithms from amplifying it. The platforms have been given 35 days to answer tough questions regarding their use of hash matching, classifiers, and other AI in detecting harmful content.
Grant has also requested that search engines provide information on their approach to indexing web pages. Twitter has been asked how it intends to enforce tougher compliance measures when it has reduced its Australian workforce.
If the platforms fail to comply with the notices by March 30, they could face fines of $687,500 per day. This comes after the eSafety Commissioner announced her intention to register industry codes for censoring illegal content, including child abuse, terrorist material, and extreme violence in March. The codes will set basic online safety expectations and enforcement measures.
The eSafety Commissioner has rejected eight draft codes proposed by industry associations, including the Digital Industry Group Inc, and stated that the associations do not need to commit to the codes before they are registered.
